1. Field
Example embodiments relate to infrared thermal detectors and/or methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an infrared thermal detector for receiving and detecting infrared light emitted from an object having a temperature, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some devices may be used to sense radiation. For example, an object having a desired (and/or predetermined) temperature T may emit light according to black body radiation and may have wide band indicating a maximum value. Light emitted from a nearby object at room temperature may be infrared radiation showing a maximum value in a wavelength band of about 10 μm. When such infrared light is incident on a thermal mass connected to surroundings via a thermal leg, a temperature may increase in the thermal mass and the thermal leg. Due to the temperature change caused by the incident infrared light, a resistance change, a polarity change, an electromotive force change, and/or a flexural change may be generated according to characteristics of a material, and such a change may be turned into an image array to obtain a thermal image. For example, a bolometer may be used to realize a thermal image by using a resistance change of a material.
Factors that affect the amount of temperature change of a pixel are the amount of incident energy, which is proportional to a result of multiplying an average light absorption ratio of the pixel by a pixel area in a given wavelength band, the thermal mass of the pixel, and the thermal conductance of the pixel.
An array having a format equal to or above a video graphics array (VGA) level is being developed via pixel miniaturization so as to realize a thermal camera having high resolution and high temperature precision. However, during the pixel miniaturization, the amount of incident energy decreases due to the decreased pixel area, and the amount of temperature change decreases due to the increased thermal conductance caused by a decreased length of a thermal leg. Accordingly, a temperature noise factor may increase as a pixel size decreases, and thus, a pixel having a size larger than a diffraction limit of a used wavelength (up to 10 μm) may be used.